SLM vs SYF vs STNE Stock Comparison

Slm, Synchrony Financial and StoneCo Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SLM SLM Corp
$18.77 -20.7% 1M -34.0% 1Y
Market cap
$3.43B
P/E
6.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.79B
Div. yield
2.77%
Consumer Lending Financial Services
1 win
SYF Synchrony Financial
$74.99 +2.8% 1M +0.0% 1Y
Market cap
$23.32B
P/E
7.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.31B
Div. yield
1.65%
Consumer Lending Financial Services
6 wins
STNE StoneCo Ltd.
$8.15 -12.4% 1M -58.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.56B
P/E
3.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.73B
Div. yield
31.04%
Consumer Lending Financial Services
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Synchrony Financial leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Synchrony Financial 6, StoneCo 5, Slm 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSLMSYFSTNELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.43B $23.32B $2.56B SYF
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 6.3x 7.4x 3.0x STNE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.5x 7.6x 4.4x STNE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -6.7% +2.6% +18.3% STNE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 30.9% 16.8% 26.2% SLM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.6% 25.7% — SYF
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x -0.9x — SYF
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.77% 1.65% 31.04% STNE
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -34.0% +0.0% -58.0% SYF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +0.7%/yr +9.9%/yr -25.1%/yr SYF
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.1% 31.6% 65.3% SYF
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 80/100 80/100 STNE

Percentile Scorecard

SLMSYFSTNE

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisSLMSYFSTNE
Valuation 49 #87 of 169 95 #10 of 169 97 #6 of 169
Growth 30 #113 of 160 50 #80 of 160 87 #22 of 160
Profitability 54 #69 of 149 90 #16 of 149 85 #24 of 149
Financial Health 37 #100 of 158 78 #36 of 158 33 #106 of 158
Shareholder Returns 73 #37 of 136 86 #20 of 136 99 #3 of 136
Overall 49 80 80
  • SLM ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • SYF ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • STNE ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodSLMSYFSTNESPY
1 month -20.7%+2.8%-12.4% -0.2%
3 months -25.5%-2.8%-27.0% +3.9%
6 months -19.9%-1.7%-30.1% +8.2%
Year to date -30.6%-10.1%-44.9% +12.9%
1 year -34.0%+0.0%-58.0% +12.3%
3 years +46.5%+167.0%-15.1% +87.4%
3 years, per year +13.6%+38.8%-5.3% +23.3%
5 years +3.5%+60.0%-76.5% +67.9%
5 years, per year +0.7%+9.9%-25.1% +10.9%
10 years +162.9%+159.1%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +10.1%+10.0%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSLMSYFSTNESPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.1%31.6%65.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.2%36.1%74.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.051.181.44 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.810.00-0.89 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -45.8%-46.7%-79.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -39.2%-15.2%-58.0% -1.2%
52-week high $30.85$88.47$19.39 $779.14
52-week low $18.74$63.78$8.15 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleSLMSYFSTNE
P/E now vs peer median 6.3xmedian 11.1x 7.4xmedian 11.1x 3.0xmedian 11.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.6x 1.2xmedian 2.6x 0.9xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 13.5x 1.8xmedian 13.5x 0.8xmedian 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median -9.0xmedian 7.0x 2.4xmedian 7.0x 2.9xmedian 7.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 0.7x 1.4xmedian 0.7x 1.5xmedian 0.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.22median 0.32 0.34median 0.32 0.04median 0.32

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsSLMSYFSTNE
Revenue $1.79B $19.31B $2.73B
Gross profit – – $1.19B
Operating income – – $1.03B
Net income $567.40M $3.33B $545.33M
Free cash flow -$381.64M $9.56B $874.35M
EPS (diluted) $2.98 $10.06 $2.62
Cash & equivalents $2.17B $15.90B $1.42B
Total debt $6.43B $8.11B –
Shares (diluted) 185.57M 322.40M 273.49M
Enterprise value -$12.91B -$44.30B -$3.15B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricSLMSYFSTNE
P/E 6.3x 7.4x 3.0x
P/FCF -9.0x 2.4x 2.9x
P/Operating cash flow -9.0x 2.4x 3.3x
P/S 1.9x 1.2x 0.9x
P/B 1.5x 1.4x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 1.5x 1.4x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 4.1x 1.8x 0.8x
EV/EBIT 4.2x 1.9x 1.0x
EV/Revenue 4.3x 0.8x 0.4x
EV/FCF -20.1x 1.6x 1.1x
EV/Operating cash flow -20.1x 1.6x 1.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.22 0.34 0.04

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSLMSYFSTNE
Revenue growth (1Y) -6.7% 2.6% 18.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.6% 4.6% 2.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 13.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – -16.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) – – 1,432%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – -3.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -9.0% -6.8% 86.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 19.1% 12.0% 51.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 3.4% 6.5% 89.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 28.7% 21.7% 84.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -15.8% -2.0% 415.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -47.7% 5.6% 22.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -15.8% -2.0% 249.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -47.7% 5.6% 16.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSLMSYFSTNE
Gross margin – – 43.7%
EBITDA margin 104.4% 45.8% 42.4%
Operating margin – – 37.5%
Pretax margin 41.2% 22.6% 19.8%
Net margin 30.9% 16.8% 26.2%
FCF margin -21.3% 49.5% 32.0%
Operating cash flow margin -21.3% 49.5% 28.5%
Return on equity 24.0% 19.9% 35.1%
Return on assets 1.9% 2.7% 6.4%
Return on invested capital 16.6% 25.7% –
Return on capital employed – – 28.7%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.2x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.7x 2.9x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 2.6% – 1.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSLMSYFSTNE
Debt / assets 21.6% 6.6% –
Debt / equity 2.9x 0.5x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x -0.9x –
Debt / FCF -16.9x 0.8x –
Liabilities / assets 92.4% 86.5% 84.4%
Equity / assets 7.6% 13.5% 15.6%
Interest coverage 1.7x 2.1x 1.2x
Current ratio – – 1.3x
Quick ratio – – 0.2x
Cash ratio – – 0.2x
Altman Z-score – – 1.03

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSLMSYFSTNE
Dividend yield 2.8% 1.7% 31.0%
Net buyback yield 15.9% 16.5% –
Shareholder yield 18.7% 18.1% 31.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 17.7% 12.6% –
Payout ratio (FCF) -26.3% 4.4% –
Dividend growth (1Y) -7.9% 0.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -1.1% 1.1% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusSLMSYFSTNE
Forward P/E 8.5xFY2026 7.6xFY2026 4.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.20FY2026 $9.82FY2026 $1.84FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -36.4%FY2026 +5.8%FY2026 +4.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +30.5% +10.3% +15.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.85BFY2026 $15.69BFY2026 $2.94BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -6.7%FY2026 +4.7%FY2026 +14.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.3% +7.5% +4.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSLMSYFSTNE
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 59.4%
Institutions holding 387 1,002 273
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.4% -0.8% -7.6%
Institutions buying 193 526 148
Institutions selling 135 345 81
Buyers to sellers 1.43 1.52 1.83

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

SLMSYFSTNE
SLM 1.00 0.53 0.12
SYF 0.53 1.00 0.16
STNE 0.12 0.16 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SLM, SYF and STNE?

Synchrony Financial (SYF) is the largest by market capitalisation: Slm (SLM) $3.43B, Synchrony Financial (SYF) $23.32B, StoneCo (STNE) $2.56B.

Which stock is cheaper, SLM, SYF and STNE?

StoneCo (STNE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Slm (SLM) 6.3x, Synchrony Financial (SYF) 7.4x, StoneCo (STNE) 3.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, StoneCo (STNE) is cheapest (Slm (SLM) 8.5x, Synchrony Financial (SYF) 7.6x, StoneCo (STNE) 4.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

StoneCo (STNE) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Slm (SLM) -6.7%, Synchrony Financial (SYF) +2.6%, StoneCo (STNE) +18.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Slm (SLM) has the highest net margin (Slm (SLM) 30.9%, Synchrony Financial (SYF) 16.8%, StoneCo (STNE) 26.2%). On return on invested capital, Synchrony Financial (SYF) leads (Slm (SLM) 16.6%, Synchrony Financial (SYF) 25.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Synchrony Financial (SYF) returned the most: Slm (SLM) -34.0%, Synchrony Financial (SYF) +0.0%, StoneCo (STNE) -58.0%. Over five years, Synchrony Financial (SYF) compounded fastest (Slm (SLM) +0.7%/yr, Synchrony Financial (SYF) +9.9%/yr, StoneCo (STNE) -25.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

StoneCo (STNE) has the highest dividend yield: Slm (SLM) 2.77%, Synchrony Financial (SYF) 1.65%, StoneCo (STNE) 31.04%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Synchrony Financial (SYF) has been the steadiest (Slm (SLM) 42.1%, Synchrony Financial (SYF) 31.6%, StoneCo (STNE) 65.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SLM, SYF and STNE?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Synchrony Financial (SYF) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.